Beach Boys
by ciedan
Summary: Beckett and Castle will spent time at beaches, at first only professional, but there is a good chance for a private meeting. And Castle will show us a secret of his past. Follow up from Taken.
1. Sucker punch

_AN: Disclaimer I do not own Castle or anything associated with it. No copyright infringement intended._

_The idea for this story is from the show, but the resulting story line is written solely by me. So far I don't have seen a story here using this line, only once it was mentioned, so I hope you will get something new to read._

_Fans of the series will know where I am heading after seeing the murder scene, but I hope some twists will shake them._

_It is a lose follow up to __Taken__, but it is not needed to read it to understand this story._

_I hope that I neither killed the English language nor butchered a nice storyline for my readers._

**02 April 2011, 8am:**

Castle and Beckett are on their way to a crime scene with Ryan and Esposito following them in their car. Beckett fidgets in the car seat, she is nervous. Glancing at Castle she replays the last day in her mind. _After two weeks Dr. Holloway came and brought the evaluation from Castle to Captain Montgomery. Castle got his field rating back, the whole team was smiling and decided it is a good moment for a coffee break. Just as she started to follow them, Dr. Holloway stopped her with a light touch on the arm. 'Detective, on a word', he said, 'although he is field rated I want you to keep an close eye on him in the next couple of weeks. Psychology is not an exact science, especially in this working environment he may has flashbacks, if the case is similar to his recent experiences. Stay close to him, it should be good for both of you.' And after he checked the time, he excused himself for an appointment he had. She stood there dumb folded by his request._

'What the heck did he mean with his last sentence anyway', she still wonders.

And in what seems for her seconds they arrive at the crime scene, easy to be found because of the patrol cruisers parked in front of it. She could even spot the van from the medical examiner.

The four of them climb out of their cars and take in the rundown surrounding.

'What is it with storage facilities, doesn't the criminals nowadays know how to dispose a body properly', Castle jibes, 'A fridge in a storage facility gets boring after the first time.'

With a sly grin Beckett takes up the banter, 'Nobody said anything about a refrigerator so far.'

'Great, I forgot my peppermint ointment.'

'Smell wasn't the reason that the body was found.'

'Let me use my psychic powers', Castle starts, bringing his hands up, so that the fingertips touches his forehead and the thumbs rest on the cheeks, 'The villain stopped paying the renting fee. Booooring, we already had such a case.'

'Oh my gosh, you are really a psychic', Beckett says in faked astonishment, 'but I can assure you this case is not like any other.'

'How do you come to this conclusion, detective?'

'They called us!'

With a smile they enter the building and after a quick orientation they follow the signs into the right direction. Counting down the numbers of the storage rooms Ryan says, 'Room 213 should be around the next corner.' As they make the turn, they see an officer standing in front of the room.

'Hey, Tim. What do we have here', Castle asks.

'I don't know, I arrived after they found the body. But I guess Dr. Parish can help you out. She and the CSU are already at work inside.'

The four put on their latex gloves and enter the storage room. They stopped inside taking in the room.

'That is definitely not what I expected', Castle breaks the stunned silence. The room looked more like a bedroom than a storage room. At the wall are cupboards and a black leather couch, but it is dominated by a big king size bed with curtains.

Lanie is kneeling besides it with a bewildered look on her face. Castle and Beckett step over to her. As they reach her, they can see the young woman on the bed. She wears a white weeding dress made out of fine satin, which hugs her well formed body. Her face is fine cut, it looks like it was carved out of stone. It is surrounded by long, pitch black hair.

'Hello, Lanie. What can you tell us so far', Beckett asks her.

Lanie looks up with a frustrated sigh, 'Not much, I can't determine neither cause nor time of death and no ID so far.'

'How can that be? By the looks of her I would say she can't be dead that long', Castle says.

'Looks can be deceiving, writer boy. Somebody drained all of her body fluids and replaced it with formaldehyde. And from what I have seen so far her main organs were replaced by some sort of filling material.'

'You telling us, she is a modern day mummy', Castle asks excited.

'Mh, you may say that', the medical examiner agrees.

'You can't be serious!' Beckett shakes her head.

'Isn't it great, I already love this case', Castle exclaims with his boyish grin on his face. Castle scoots into one corner of the room like a kid on the search for even more treasures.

This so normal behavior for him, brings big smiles on the faces of his four friends. 'That is the Castle we all learned to know _and love_', Lanie says the thoughts of them and looks at the end of her sentence curios at Beckett.

Beckett blushes slightly and to cover it up she says, 'Let's split up, we have a room to examine, boys.' Beckett is looking through the first cupboard as her cellphone rings.

'Detective Beckett … You can't be serious Captain … I understand … Where is it? … Okay, I will be there in half a hour. Bye.'

Heading to the exit she calls out, 'Esposito, this is your case now. Castle are you coming, we are needed at the beach.'

Everyone in the room can see how torn Castle is about this unexpected development. 'The beach with Beckett … A freaking mummy … beach .. mummy, oh crap, I can't decide.'

'Hurry up Castle, decide her or me', Beckett asks impatiently.

Castle looks from her to the victim and then back, 'That is so unfair, why can't I have both of you.'

'That is gross, Castle', Beckett says.

After a second he realize what he has just said. 'That doesn't come out the way I intended it. Can't somebody else take over the other case?'

'No, can't do. It seems today is 'wish the detective' at the precinct. The second time I was requested and the Mayor believes the other case is more important than our Jane Doe here', in the end anger is clearly to be heard in her voice.

'Let's hope that the other case is equally good', Castle says as he follows her to the car.

'Can't promise you that, I only know the address', Beckett says.

**02 April 2011, 8:55am:**

The signs that they have arrived at the crime scene are the same like at the first scene they drove to earlier in the morning. Patrol cars with turned on blue lights parking at the street side, only that in this case there are more, a lot more patrol cars. Even a couple of big black SUV are parked there. 'FBI', Castle asks. 'Don't ask me, I know the same as you', Beckett answers defensive.

And naturally it is at a beach, so there are already a lot more on-looker at the scene cranking their heads to get a better view at the scene.

'I hate these on-looker', Beckett says and climbs out of the car, 'they are getting their cheap adrenaline kick out of the pain from others.'

Beckett and Castle step to the barrier and with a nod to the officers they are through it. 'Yeah, it is the FBI', Beckett says and nods to their right, 'Crawford is over there with Franks.' Beckett stops at Crawford and the team leader of the CSU team at this scene. Castle strolls into the direction of the shore line and spots Perlmutter working there. The further down the beach he walks the more his stomach tightens in anticipation. From what he sees the act of violence can't be happened to far in the past. He kneels down on the other side of the small body and forces himself to look around. He sees the officers from the CSU team walking slowly around, picking up and bagging every piece of paper and trash they find. He looks also at the ocean and how the waves break on the shore. His eyes always drawn to the body right in front of him. Looking over to Perlmutter he says in a quite, nearly soft voice, 'Perlmutter, you better get the guys from CSU move a little faster, the high tide is coming in.' Perlmutter locks up in alarm, 'Right, these guys don't think on something like that. And I better get the kid ready and move him to the morgue.'

The medical examiner stands up and searches for the team leader of the CSU team, leaving Castle alone with the body.

Castle tries hard not to look down at it, but his eyes finally give in. He swallows hard and his hands start to shake, 'Yesterday you played hide and go seek with your friends, and today you are … here. How can this happen?' A shadow falls over his shoulder and he tenses up.

'Castle are you okay?' Beckett steps at his side. 'Castle?'

He forces himself to mumble, ' I'm alright.'  
>'I don't think so, I know how cases with children affects you.' After a quick glance over to Agent Crawford she continues, 'That is the reason I believe you should work the mummy case with Esposito and Ryan, I can handle this one with Crawford.'<p>

'I … I think you are right, but I will head home now, I am totally exhausted', he agrees.

'Do you want to be drove home by a patrol?'

'NO .. no, I will walk. I need the fresh air.'  
>The two woman follow him with their eyes as he limps up to the street.<p>

'Am I wrong, or is his limp worse than last week', Crawford asks.

'I believe his mind is occupied with this here, so he can't hide the pain he still has in his leg. And this is all my fault I should have let him stay with the mummy, instead of dragging him here', Beckett says with guilt in her voice. 'So let's see what we have here.'  
>'Mummy, are you serious?'<p>

'I am always serious, Crawford.'

And in the following silence the two could hear a horn blow.


	2. Preliminary findings

_AN: I started to write this chapter and thought, opps didn't check out real world, so I most likely messed up the tides. If actual tides were different I am sorry, but I'm stuck with it now. _

_I hope that I don't jump to much to different locations, but it seems the best way to keep all parties involved._

**02 April 2011, 09:07am:**

He drives along the beach as a man steps in front of his car. He hits the breaks and blows the signal horn of his car. Fortunately he comes to a stop mere inches away from him. And the guy is looking exactly the same way at him like the deer he hit last year. Leaning out of his window he yells, 'Damn it, watch where you are going, you stupid asshole. You want to die or what? Then buy yourself a nice piece of rope, idiot.'

Then he sees the police officer stepping on the street, so he swallows the best curse words he saved up for the end down. He relaxes as he sees the police officer pulling the man of the street. 'Great, put the drunk bastard into jail.'

His adrenaline rush already fading and his hands starts to shake he takes off with a last 'Freaking drunks'.

**02 April 2011, 09:10am:**

'Mr. Castle, are you okay', the officer asks him.

He stammers his answer, 'Y-y-yeah, I'm .. fine, ssseems I was somewhere else with my head.'  
>'These crime scenes can have this effect. Do you want me to call a cab for you?'<p>

'No Eddy, I will walk, only have to pay attention to where I'm walking. Take care, Eddy.'

'You, too Mr. Castle.' The officer observes him walk away along the beach, not sure if he should have insisted more on calling him a cab. Strolling back to his partner he shrugs his shoulders and says, 'He is old enough, if he wants to walk, he walks.'

**02 April 2011, 09:40am:**

Beckett and Crawford stare at the point, which was their crime scene one hour ago. It is now flooded by the tide. 'Did you got everything', Beckett asks Perlmutter.

He waggles with his head. 'We will never know what we lost', is his answer. 'But without Castle pointing out that the tide is coming, we maybe would have lost more evidence. And the peak will be here in three hours, roughly one foot more.'

'Even in his condition he checked the tides with an app on his cellphone. I'm impressed.'

'He didn't checked anything, he simply took a look and told it to me.'

'Mh, but let us get back to the case. What are your preliminary findings?'

'The victim is between 8 and 12 years old, well feed and good teeth. Clothing would put him into the better society. At the moment I would put time of death between 6 and 7am, and the cause is a slashed throat, he has also two cuts on his back, one like a L and a the other cut is a reversed L, so on first glance it looked like a T and he has a diagonal cut on his chest. And what I have seen so far, these cuts were antemortem made.'

'What sick person could do that? Are there any defensive wounds', Crawford picks up, after all of them were silent for a while.

'No, there aren't and no indicators for him being bound either. I will have the tox-screen as soon as possible.' Perlmutter leaves the two women and marches to his van, dreading what he has to do in the morgue.

'Where are you setting up the war room, Crawford?'

'I think at your precinct would be best. Are you done here?'  
>'Yeah, as soon as we are back in the precinct, we should inform the other departments that we are looking for missing person reports matching his description from the last two days or coming fresh in.'<p>

**02 April 2011, 10:25am:**

Ryan and Esposito finish their search of the storage room, but they found only things for the dead girl on the bed. Nothing indicates that another person was there, it surely looked like a girls bedroom. Stepping to Lanie, who took her time with the body, even though it generates more questions than answers.

'Lanie, found anything that may help us?'

'I don't know what it means, but take a look at this. She has these distinctive cut marks on her right arm, leg and across her stomach, which puzzles me.'

'Why', Esposito asks.

'Whoever prepared her, didn't need these cuts on the arm and leg.'

'Maybe it happens as he killed her, coming at her with a knife in a crime of passion and these are defensive wounds.'

'It is a possibility, but somehow it don't feels right for me. I will take a closer look at the morgue.'

'See you there. Come on, Ryan we need to talk with the owner', Esposito says.

The two detectives walk to the office of the facility, hoping to find him there. As they arrive there, they are positive surprised, the owner isn't the stereotype fat, old and greasy owner, but a lean and young man in his late twenties.

'You are the owner of this facility, a Mr. Smith?'

'I'm Smith junior, I took over this place from my father three years ago.'

'You know why we are here, so what can you tell us?'

'The room is rented since January, 2009 to a Mr. White, young dude should be around twenty - twenty-two years now, nothing to remember about him medium height, weight, dark hair. He paid always in cash for three months. He is overdue for the last three months, so I opened the room to claim what is in it to cover his debts. At first I was pleasant surprised, the inventor there should be enough to pay his debts. Then I found the girl on the bed, I nearly wet my pants.'

'Do you have surveillance tapes, which show this Mr. White? And he always paid cash', Ryan asks.

'No, we tape only the last seven days and if nothing happens we reuse them. Only when there is something like a break-in we hand them over to the police. I will check with my ledger, but I'm pretty sure he only paid cash.'

'Here is my card, if you remember anything else, give me a call', Esposito says.

**02 April 2011, 11:37am:**

The two detectives enter the bull pen. They see two technician carry a smart board into the conference room.

'Do you have the same flashback like me?'

Ryan nods and steps to the door, 'But this time it is only one smart board and less FBI agents.' He sees Beckett coming from the Captain's office and he takes a searching glance into every direction, turning around he seems puzzled. 'Where is Castle, I would have bet that he is drooling over all the apps the FBI brought in', he asks Beckett as she arrives.

'He went home, needed a timeout from the case.'

'So bad?'

'Worse', and with that she left the two confused detectives behind her and slams the door to the conference room shut.

**02 April 2011, 01:06pm:**

Castle needs multiple tries to get the key into the lock. As he opens the door he sees Alexis heading his way with a worried face. He lets the door fall into the lock behind him and makes the last steps to her and engulfs her in a bone breaking hug.

'Dad, where have you been? Beckett called hours ago to let us know you are coming home early.'

He starts with a sigh, 'I needed time to think, so I walked home. And I still need to think about what I have seen.' With a kiss to her forehead he stops hugging her and walks over to his bar. There he grabs without looking a full bottle of whiskey.

'Dad, that is the cheap stuff you give out to the totally drunk and person you don't like', Alexis comments his action.

'Doesn't matter, I don't like myself right now and I wont taste it anyway.'

Martha observes the interaction between her son and granddaughter from the stairs-head. 'Such a cruel case, kiddo?'

He looks up the pain clearly visible in his eyes, 'It is worse, mum.' With the bottle and a glass Castle walks into his study and closes the door behind him.

Alexis looks at her grandmother, 'Grams, that is the first time I heard Dad calling you mum!'

'Yeah, it is a long time since he used it, tomorrow it would have been twenty-six years.' Martha climbs down the stairs, 'I will talk with him about the case tomorrow, Alexis. But you can give Kate a call that your wandering dad is back, kiddo.'

'Right, the phone is up in my room. I will take care of it right now.'

Martha stares at the door to the study, while Alexis runs up the stairs. 'I should talk to him right now, tomorrow with a hangover and the day itself it would be even worse', she thinks. Taking a big breath she goes to the door and opens it. Her son looks up from the desk in a way that reminds her of the little boy he once was.

'Richard talk to me, you have seen so many crime scenes in the last 3 years. Why is the current one so bad?'

Castle sighs and leans back into his chair, covering his eyes with his hands and after that let the hands slide through his hair. 'I have seen Dave today.'

His mother gasps in shock,' That is not possible, Richard.'

'I know mum, he is dead.'


	3. Chapter 3

**02 April 2011, 01:20pm:**

'You know our deal, it applies for this conversation too, not a word should leave this room,' a newly determined Castle says.

'You need to tell somebody about it!'

'I will, but I wont be rushed into something either. I will wait and see where this investigation goes.'

Martha leaves the room, maybe even more shocked than her son.

Upstairs Alexis makes the phone call to Beckett, blissfully unaware of the events downstairs. 'Hello, Kate. It's Alexis … He made it home, badly shaken by the case. What is this case about? … That explains why he grabbed a bottle of whiskey … I know, you don't approve of this behavior, but the way he looked he needed a good stiff drink … I will send him tomorrow to the precinct after he sobered up … Bye Kate.'

**02 April 2011, 01:35pm:**

On the other side of the city Beckett finishes the call and turns around. 'Where were we', she asks Crawford.

'We have a possibly match, Brandon Simmons, his parents called it in this morning around 8am. I have send a picture of our boy to the lead investigator and if he think it is his boy he will bring the parents for a positive identification at 3pm', she replies.

'Till then we can compile a list of suspects, known sex offender near the crime scene, their home and if it is him where he spent his time. What do we know about the family and the way he disappeared?'

'The father is a broker, the mother worked in a law firm till 2008, when she gave birth to a daughter', Crawford surmises, 'and no news from Perlmutter so far.'

**02 April 2011, 02:05pm:**

Lanie stops at Esposito's desk, 'I want to let you two know that I head out.'

'Why would you do that', an intrigued Esposito asks.

'That murdered child is top priority and our case got put into the back log and all tests of physical evidence has to wait. They telling me "Your mummy isn't as time sensitive as the boy." Damn it, they playing these games even with dead people.'

'Calm down, Lanie. Take a breath and tell me what you have got so far.'

'The only thing I could do was to start a search for missing woman matching the description, but that turned up as a blank in the tri-state-area. So now it runs nation wide and it will take time. I also asked a technician to run a facial recognition against criminal records, but till later he has no resources.'

'What could you make out of the injuries on one side of the victim?'

'I don't know, I don't have enough staff this weekend to run a X-ray. I could cut up the injuries and take a look, but that would be against protocol and may destroy evidence.'

'Not an option than, you will be in tomorrow?'

'Yeah and hopefully I'll get some work done.'

**02 April 2011, 02:55pm:**

'Hello, Kate. How are you doing?'

Beckett looks up and sees a familiar figure, 'Will? What are you doing here?'

'I'm here as the lead investigator in the disappearing of Brandon Simmons. Judging by the pictures Lanie has send me, it is the boy. The parents are downstairs making the identification', with that he puts a manila folder down.

Reluctant Beckett flips the folder open, after a quick glance of it's content she says, 'You are right it is our missing boy. What can you tell me about the case from your side so far?'

'I can't put my finger on it, but it was from the beginning a weird case...'

'Weird case', she repeats as he stopped.

'Yeah, you know with your guts that something is amiss. The boy vanished out of the house last night and no traces of forced entry. We couldn't check the typical suspects because the boy was found so fast.'

'So you suspect the parents are involved into his death?'

'No, not directly at least. They showed both guilt, but not that of a killer and honestly I don't know what to think about them. I guess you want to talk with them after they officially identified the boy?'

'After your introduction into this family you can bet on that.'

**02 April 2011, 03:12pm:**

Mr. and Mrs. Simmons take seats in the interrogation room, showing various signs of distress. Beckett takes her usual seat at the table, wishing that Castle would be here with her. Despite his skills at going on her nerves he showed in the past a great empathic capacities in these situations, she likes the way he supports her while talking with the grieving families. ' I'm sorry for your loss Mr. and Mrs. Simmons. And I'm sorry to harass you now, but what can you tell me about what Brandon did yesterday?'

'He was with his friend Lenny the last couple of days, he just returned yesterday evening', Mrs. Simmons answers with tears in her eyes.

'Do you have the contact details for his parents with you?'

'I think I have the number in my cellphone, but Daphne told me as she dropped Brandon off, that they will be at a family party this weekend and they will be back tomorrow morning.' She gets her cellphone out of her handbag and Beckett puts the contact details on her notebook.

'Do you had problems in the past like suspicious persons near your house, or threats against you?'

The two exchange a glance and then Mr. Simmons answers, 'No, we didn't see someone in our neighborhood who didn't belong there. And why are you interested in threats against us, MY son is dead.' Then he hits the table with his fist.

'Mr. Simmons, you as a broker may have made enemies who come after you through your family', she states the obvious.

'Indeed, I'm a bond broker, but our fond didn't take such a big hit in the last financial crisis. Our customer had minimal loses and they know it. And before you ask your follow up question my wife was only an assistant from many in the law firm before she stopped there and she had no direct contact to anyone outside the firm.'

It is difficult for Beckett to get the interview back on track, but she manages, gaining information about where Brandon was going to school, favorite things to do in his spare time and so on. After she let the parents go, she leans at the door frame and thinks that Will was absolute right, they may not be the killer but something is weird with them. They were sending out such mixed signals Beckett don't know what to do with them. With a sigh she straightens herself up, bringing her cellphone out she starts trying to reach the parents of Lenny to set up an interview with them and him.

**Night 02/03 April 2011:**

Castle sits in his chair. His eyes are fixed at the building on the other side of the street. The whiskey stands untouched on the table, all the energy he had to get drunk has fled his body after his mother left the room. In the beginning his mind drifted fairly often back to the beach and his way home. But with time he could get a grip onto them and now he can stare out of the window without thinking about anything of importance. Only one thought comes up often 'Don't fall asleep!' He knows what will happen if he can't stay awake and he has no need for that. The lights on the other street side help a lot, first they went on and after a while they turned off on by one. The longer he stare the more he got the impression of watching one of these fast motion videos or are his thoughts in slow motion. He doesn't care. And then they went on in a irregular pattern again. Only to be replaced by the blinding reflection of the sun. He is so absorbed into his not thinking he didn't notice that the door to his study opens.

'Dad, are you awake and decent', Alexis asks and takes with a glance from the threshold his state in. She steps into the room. 'You are already up, that is better than expected, especially after you vanished with a bottle of …', seeing the untouched whiskey she continues, 'OH! You didn't get drunk?'

Castle is at a loss, his thoughts still crawling slower as a snail through his brain and they can't keep up with his daughter. 'Yeah … I .. I .. had to .. think. Why? .. How can .. I help you, pumpkin', he gets out.

'You are expected at the precinct, you have a case with a mummy if you remember.'

'Right, right. Can you make coffee, please?'

'Sure Dad, I will', she turns around and heads towards the kitchen, relieved that he can't see the worry on her face.

**03 April 2011, 9:15am:**

Castle is a real spoil sport in the precinct, mopping around in his chair, which he has pulled up to be next to Ryan's desk. Only following the conversations between Ryan and Esposito with one ear and making none committing sounds, when he thinks it is necessary.

He has the chance to overhear Perlmutter reporting to Beckett, that the boy indeed was drugged with a derivation of Rohypnol, which Perlmutter needs to test further.

'Hey Castle, are you listening to us', Esposito interrupts him eavesdropping. 'You don't seem to have brought your A-game today.'

'It seems that I have caught some cold', Castle evades him.

'Do you want some coffee?'

'No, thank you. I had already enough coffee today.

Esposito heads over to the break room and pours himself coffee into his cup. On his way out he meets with Beckett, 'Something is wrong with Castle today, he don't enjoy the case as he should, no wild guesses how the girl ended up in the storage room, only sitting there and grunting.'  
>'Maybe he is only hungover. Alexis told me that he headed to his study yesterday with a bottle of whiskey.'<p>

'That would indeed explain it.'

'Excuse me, but I have to interview the McDermids', Beckett finishes the conversation and walks over to the interrogation room.

Castle could see the two out of the corner of his eyes, silently moaning as he sees Beckett making some sipping motion with her hand. 'Someone has told her about my behavior yesterday', he thinks. With his elbows resting on the desk he puts his hands over the eyes, missing Esposito glance at him and the following knowing nod.

Beckett and Crawford take seats and introducing themselves to the McDermid family. They perform the routine questioning like they were doing it a long time together. And to sum it up nothing new came up, till they came to the last day the two boys were together. 'So tell us Lenny all about Friday.'

The boy, although pretty shaken, has done a good job so far answer without hesitation, 'It was a normal school day and after mom picked us up and brought home, we played a little bit in the garden. And then my mother brought him home.' Tears building up in his eyes he states, 'I think I will never play hide and go seek again, it is our favorite game … and the last game we played together.'

The cop and the FBI agent turn their head in disbelieve and Beckett mutters, 'How could he now that?' Beckett nearly springs out of her chair and is out of the room in no time. As soon as she is in the bull pen she shouts, 'CASTLE, to me NOW!'

**04 April 2011, 10:05am:**

Castle walks down the quite hallway following the prison guard. Neither of them is in a chatty mode so both are relieved that the other don't try to begin a conversation. Castle is anxious his hands tapping at the steam of his trouser. After what seemed miles of walking the guard stops in front of a door and opens it, 'He will be with you in a couple of minutes.' Castle nods and steps into the room, it is one of these standard visitor rooms with thick glass panes separating the two sides. Castle takes a seat and begins to drum with his fingertips on the wood panel in front of the window.

_AN: I had serious trouble writing this chapter, a real nice writers block. And I am pretty sure I could have make a better one, especially the night scene with Castle sitting in his office didn't come around the way I would like. But at least I have this nice cliffhanger at the end. An explanation will be given in the next chapter why Castle is in the visitor room of a prison. _

_In your opinion am I jumping around different locations / person to much? _


	4. Chapter 4

**04 April 2011, 10:10am:**

He stops drumming with his fingertips. ' I have lied yesterday twice and now I am here what will it mean for my relation with Kate', he thinks before he replays the yesterday. _He is sitting in the chair at Esposito's desk and suddenly hears 'CASTLE, to me NOW', turning he could see a fuming Beckett in the doorway to the interrogation rooms. He stands up and walks over to her his best puppy look on his face. 'Detective how may I … owww … apples, apples', he yelps in the end as she grips his ear in a vice like manner and shoves him into the second interrogation room._

_'Sit', she yells at him. 'Kate, I … What have I done', Castle asks confused._

_'I said sit down!' Knowing this tone from former interrogations with stubborn suspects he sits down and waits for an explanation or to be more precise the questions she will hurl at him. Both of them are waiting for the other to make the first move and thus showing a weakness._

_But Castle has the advantage, he has seen the family walk into the other room and could guess what they have said. So he choose his favorite option "not asking, but that very intense". Beckett starts sliding in her seat, she is stunned that Castle don't starts to defend himself for some minor misdemeanor. _

_Because of that she knows he hides information and she has to say something, because he will not break the silence. _

_But right now she enjoys the moment of being able to look into his blue eyes without fear that someone could misunderstand it._

_Castle enjoys it too, although he observes her all the time he never had a chance like this before, where he could stare at her eyes, these gorgeous brown eyes with these long eye lashes. If it wasn't for this sad reason, it would have nearly orgasmic for him._

_'You have wonderful eyes', he breaks the silence._

_Startled by his sudden statement Beckett blurts out the first question she wanted to ask him, 'How did you know it?'_

_'I just had the chance to take a good look at them.'_

_'That is not what I mean', she says irritated. _

_'So what have I done to end here?'_

_'It is not what you have done, but what you knew! So how did you know it?'_

_'Know what', he asks gambling for a little more time. _

_'That the boy played hide-and-go-seek the day before he died?'_

_'I'm a writer', he starts his explanation, but after he sees the anger sparks up in Beckett eyes, he decides to go further than he wanted. 'I investigated an unsolved murder for a book', he stops his explanation._

_'Castle, I have read all of your books, but in none was a child the victim. I'm not dumb, spill it.'_

_'It didn't went that smooth. I couldn't write about it. This new case reminds me of this old one, especially the cuts are similar,' he stops again and thinks about what he just said. 'Yeah that will work', he thinks to himself._

_'Come on, I need more details like case number, names and location you should know the drill by now.'_

_After a moment to compose his thoughts Castle begins, 'Eleven year old boy named Michelson was found on the beach by his friend … His throat was cut plus he had some cuts on his back. In the autopsy it was discovered that he was drugged with Rohypnol. Sounds familiar, doesn't it.'_

_''Indeed, so why didn't you tell me earlier about it?'_

_'It … it can't be the same killer, this happened on the 4__th__ April 1985.'_

_'26 years ago? I can see why you hesitate. What is the name of the friend who found him?'_

_'The name in the newspaper was … Richard Burns, but there was never one in the Hamptons.' _

_'Great a serial killer, one more time. You stay here while I go and check your story.' Beckett steps out of the room and into the observation room and as expected Crawford is there._

_'What do you think about his story?' 'To many details to be a simple lie, but I will see what I will get out of it.'_

_'I'll go back in.' 'Why?' 'Curiosity, why he didn't used his research so far and why he has picked that case!'_

_Beckett returns to Castle while Crawford already has her phone out to get more information on this case. Meanwhile Castle tries hard to compose a believable story for Beckett. Knowing she will return with head-on follow up questions. He is surprised that the door opens again after only a couple of minutes.'That was fast', he blurts out. 'So did it check out?'_

_'You tell me, will it?'_

_Castle raises his eyebrows, 'So you have already questions for me even without checking my story.'_

_'How do you come to this conclusion?'_

_'You never liked me asking to many questions without background information, because that way you can't catch them with a lie.'_

_'These were strangers, but you are my partner. So tell me Castle, why didn't you use that crime scene in one of your books?'_

_Castle swallows, 'I researched it I believe 18 years ago, but after the birth of Alexis I couldn't bring myself to write about it and with the time I forgot about it.'_

_'Interesting! You forgot it, but you can still remember the names and facts of this case?'_

_'What should I say, I have an extraordinary mind.'_

_'Let us go over the facts one more time, but this time in more details.'_

_'No problem with that. At the morning of the 4__th__ April 1985 young Burns made an early morning walk at the beach in search for shells and any other treasure he may find, but instead he found the dead body of his best friend. With whom he played hide-and-go-seek the day before. The police couldn't salvage any usable evidence from the side or the body. The police was concerned about the way the boy was killed and mutilated with a knife and feared that there will be more killings, but after a year they relaxed even though they didn't caught the killer.'_

_'That is good Castle. And why did you choose this particular case?'_

_This question caught him unprepared, 'What do you mean?'_

_'Plain simple why this case and not another one, there is unfortunately not a shortage of murder cases around here.'_

_'I … I choose that case because …' Crawford burst into the room with a couple of papers in her hands and Castle thinks 'Saved by the bell.' Beckett turns irritated and yells a 'WHAT'. 'Seems his story checks out, although it may not be connected.' _

_Turning her attention back Beckett simply asks again, 'So why. Castle?' _

_'It was a case which stirred emotions near home, but right now I'm more interested why it isn't connected.' 'The murderer is up the river.' Seeing the confused face of Castle she explains, 'Edgar Watts serves his sentence in Sing-Sing.' 'That can't be I would have heard about it', Castle interrupts. 'Not necessary, what I have seen there there wasn't any trail, because he made a deal with the prosecution full confession to four murders for no death penalty. And the press was concentrating on the strangling cases which just occur and not the cold case.'_

_'Can't be! I have seen the other crime scene. Photos.'_

_'I can't judge that, the pictures will be here later, but maybe it is a copy cat killer, also that is a little far fetched.'_

_Beckett decides it is the best time to interrupt their discussion. 'Castle, I want you to go home and stay out of here till we close the case!' _

_'But Beckett ', he starts. Beckett holds her hand up, 'NO buts, just do it!'_

_Castle lets his head hang and makes his way out of the interrogation room and closes the door behind him. As Crawford turns to leave too Beckett says, 'On a word, Crawford.' _

_'Yes, Beckett.'_

_'Don't do that ever again. I just had him so far that he was going to spill some information he withheld, but thanks to you he got a distraction and came out clean.'_

_'It is Castle, you can't believe that he is connected to this.'_

_'You are right, he will not be the killer, but something feels odd and I don't know what.'_

Movements on the other side brings Castle back to the present. He fells a chill run down his spine, 'It is showtime!'

**04 April 2011, 10:10am:**

Both teams, standing in groups, getting an update from their ME.

Perlmutter reports to Beckett and Crawford, 'It's a clever, sick bastard, he didn't left anything behind that may pinpoint to him. He may has used a serrated knife, but with the cuts on the body I can't be more specific. The cut through the throat puzzles me, here I need more more time. And the rest of his injuries I found were old and they were accounted for in his medical records.' By this Beckett interrupts, 'I want you to reexamine these, especially if they match the way they were explained match then.'

'You have a reason for this?' 'Just a hunch, a real bad hunch', she replies and all of them fell silent.

In the other group Ryan and Esposito get an update from Lanie. 'The cuts on on our mummy leads to broken bones. And by the looks of them it was near the time of death they snapped. So I took a full body x-ray from her and found that the legs were also broken.'

'So he bludgeoned her to death and then stuffed her', Esposito asks.

'No, the injuries are more consistent with a car accident. And judging from the the bone damage there should be some major injuries to the organs, too. But without them it is pure guessing.'

'But where does that leaves us? Mad scientist, body snatcher or what?'

'Now you sounds like Castle', Lanie says. After seeing the reaction from both detectives she inquires, 'What has he done this time?'

'We don't know exactly why, only that Beckett has banned him from the precinct as long as she works the current case. So you better ask her', Ryan offers another target for her curiosity.

'Okay, I will ask her. Our talk brought me another idea where to look for our victim.' With that she leaves the two and makes her way out of the bullpen.

**04 April 2011, 10:30am:**

'Showtime', Castle repeats, while waiting for the convicted murderer to step into his field of view. And as the man in his orange jumpsuit steps into the room Castle is … disappointed. The man looks average in all aspects, Castle doubts that he would remember him if he passes him on a street or it could be one of his neighbors.

'What do you want', Watts says after he took his seat.

'I'm Richard Castle and I want to talk with you over the murders, and why you changed your MO from strangling elderly woman to carving up small boys.'

'I don't talk to law enforcement without a lawyer present.'

'Calm down, I'm not a LEO. I'm an author you may have read something from me before like Naked Heat, Heat Wave or Storm Warning.'

'So what the hell do you want from me and how could you get a visitation in such a short notice.'

'Let's say the director is a big fan of mine. And as an author I'm interested that my characters are authentic. So how would you write it that a person goes from robbing and strangling one elderly woman, then cutting up a boy and after that going back to strangling elderly women?'

After that both men sit there staring at each other. Castle is hard pressed not to lick his lips in a nervous motion. A minute later the prisoner breaks the silence, 'So we are speaking about fictional characters with no connection to real persons?'

'Sure after all I'm a civilian. So tell me how would you write the story?'

'Mhh, first you need a so called serial killer, who likes what he does. He gets caught through new methods of DNA analysis, which connects him to four strangled women. And as a twist you need a sheriff in an election year enter the scene, who wants to win by all means necessary. And he offers a deal to the killer, confess to one more murder and there will be no extra-diction to Texas and no death penalty.'  
>'What happened with this sheriff?'<br>'I would let him get the right thing, win the reelection and then die in a common traffic check', and Watts starts laughing.

'Thank you for your time, have a nice day', Castle says as he rise from his chair.

'Wait a moment I have something to add. You writer make one big mistake in your description every time. (1) After a murder I didn't fall into melancholy. I was more powered up than ever. Couldn't sleep for three, four days always walking through the streets. And I didn't see people, I have seen then only victims and non-victims. It was the best feeling I ever had, better than any drug I tried.(end 1) I miss these times.'

Castle fell back into the chair and could only stare in disbelieve at Watts. Watts stands up and leaves the visitation room with even more laughing.

_AN: Yeah I know, I took a lot of time bringing this chapter down on paper, but I hope you guys like what I have done. What Watts said between (1) and (end 1) said a shrink in May in a TV show as a quote from one inmate. And I thought it matches into this story so good I couldn't let the chance pass._


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